PRNewswire SAN RAFAEL, Calif. Nov. 12 :

Market Metrix, LLC, the leading provider of market research services for
the hospitality industry, today announced results of the Market Metrix
Hospitality Index (MMHI) for the third quarter of this year. Four Seasons
Hotels, JetBlue Airways and Enterprise Rent-A-Car ranked number one in
hotel, airline and rental car industry customer satisfaction,
respectively. JetBlue and Enterprise have both won four out of the last
five quarters.
In addition, the MMHI is reporting the first satisfaction rankings of
websites offering online hotel reservations. Radisson Hotels & Resorts and
Yahoo! Travel placed number one in customer satisfaction with the
reservation- making process for the hotel brand and travel website
categories, respectively. “As the Internet matures, our travelers expect
much more from their online experiences,” said Yen Lee, general manager of
Yahoo! Travel. “Yahoo! Travel has always been committed to providing the
most comprehensive choices and easy-to-use site for people to research and
book their travel online. The MMHI award validates our work and inspires
us to continue providing the highest quality of service to our customers.”

According to Jonathan Barsky, Ph.D., Market Metrix co-founder and partner
and University of San Francisco marketing professor, “Travelers are
increasingly using the Internet to book hotel reservations, making the
online interface an important part of the guest`s overall experience with
that hotel. The quality of the experience with the website can influence
customers` decision making, ultimately reinforcing loyalty or losing
customers for the brand. The information in MMHI will help hotel and
travel website executives determine if their online hotel reservation
interface is effective.”

“Today`s online shopper wants options and choices when making travel
arrangements, but in a way that is easy and intuitive for the customer,”
said Gino Giovannelli, senior director of e-business for Carlson
Hospitality Worldwide, parent company of Radisson Hotels & Resorts. “Our
customers are the best judge of how well we are satisfying their changing
needs, and tools like the MMHI help us meet their changing expectations.”

Interestingly, consumers are using hotel brand websites more often than
the popular travel websites like Orbitz or Expedia, with 34 percent of
consumers using the hotel site directly. Expedia.com was the most popular
travel website, with 15 percent of respondents choosing it for online
hotel booking.
MMHI Top-Hospitality Rankings Q3 2003
—
  Hotel
  Four Seasons Hotels

  Airline
  JetBlue Airways

  Car Rental
  Enterprise Rent-A-Car

  Luxury Hotels
  Four Seasons Hotels

  Upscale Hotels
  Walt Disney World Resorts

  Upper Mid-Price Hotels
  Wingate Inn

  Mid-Price Hotels
  Drury Inns

  Economy Hotels
  Wellesley Inn and Suites

  Extended-Stay Hotels
  Candlewood

  Casino
  Harrahs

  Upscale Casino
  Bellagio

  Hotel Reservations Website—Hotel Brand
  Radisson

  Hotel Reservations Website—Travel
  Yahoo! Travel

About MMHI
-
The Market Metrix Hospitality Index is a quarterly report of customer
satisfaction with hotel, airline and car rental companies based on 35,000
in-depth consumer interviews. The MMHI ranks top hospitality brands by
industry and, for hotels, by categories such as luxury, mid-price and
economy. Detailed, in-depth and customized reports are available for
subscribers. No other customer satisfaction index offers MMHI`s reporting
frequency, volume of customer interviews, cross-industry results or
innovative satisfaction measures.

The MMHI contains 135 hotel brands, 25 airlines and 11 car rental
companies. The wealth of data is presented in an easy-to-use format,
enabling subscribers to quickly identify trends and find best practices.
Subscribers can measure their company`s stand-alone performance and
dynamically benchmark their ratings against those of self-selected
competitors and highly ranked companies within and across the other
hospitality industries.

In addition to standard measures of customer satisfaction, MMHI has
pioneered several proprietary measures. Hospitality companies that provide
Loyalty Emotions—select emotional experiences for customers, such as
“pampered,” “relaxed” or “hip/cool,” depending on category and niche—
obtain higher rates and can increase prices with fewer defections. Loyalty
Program Strength measures the relative success of a company`s loyalty
program compared to other programs in the industry. The Secure Customer
measures a customer`s intent to return and likelihood of recommending the
hospitality company, important indicators of satisfaction.

About Market Metrix
-
Market Metrix, LLC was founded in 1996 by partners Jonathan Barsky, Ph.D.,
and Lenny Nash to provide the hospitality industry with better customer
and employee satisfaction measurement programs and management tools. In
addition to MMHI, Market Metrix provides clients with award-winning survey
systems and strategic services. Market Metrix also operates the Consumer
Research Center, which provides focus group facilities, data entry
services and a state-of-the- art specialty call center. Based in San
Rafael, Calif., Market Metrix is partner-owned and has 50 employees. For
more information, log onto http://www.marketmetrix.com/ or call
1-800-239-7515.
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